Greek for Beginners

Greek has a documented history of over 3,400 years, which is the longest of any single
natural language in the Indo-European language family. With fragmentary records dating
back to the 15th or 14th century BC, it is also one of the world's oldest recorded
living languages.

Modern Greek is full of inflexions, which makes it daunting to learn. All articles,
adjective and nouns decline, while verbs conjugate, so there are many patterns to
remember. It is spoken today by approximately 17–25 million people in Greece, Cyprus,
Albania, Armenia, Bulgaria, Italy, Turkey, Ukraine, Moldova, Romania, Russia, Egypt,
Jordan as well as in emigrant nations like Australia, the United States, Germany,
and even Canada.

The Greek alphabet
may seem a bit hard with all these diphthongs, letters with same pronunciation and
rules, but at least the way a word is pronounced is very specific. Once you will
know he rules of reading it you will have no doubts on how to read each word.

Also another advantage, very useful for a foreigner is that we mark with a stress
the vowel that is stressed. This happens always for words that have more than one
syllables. Att: syllables, not vowels. So the word ποιος has 3 vowels but only
1 syllable so it is unstressed. It is pronounced /pços/.

The (modern) Greek alphabet has 24 letters:

Capital

Lower Case

Greek Name

English Name

IPA Value

Approximative Sound

Α

α

άλφα

alpha

a

Italian amore

Β

β

βήτα

beta

v

victory

Γ

γ

γάμμα / γάμα

gamma

ɣ / ʝ¹

Dutch gaan / Swedish jord

Δ

δ

δέλτα

delta

ð

this

Ε

ε

έψιλον

epsilon

e̞

Spanish bebé

Ζ

ζ

ζήτα

zeta

z

zoo

Η

η

ήτα

eta

i

keep (but shorter)

Θ

θ

θήτα

theta

θ

thanks

Ι

ι

ιώτα / γιώτα

iota

i

keep (but shorter)

Κ

κ

κάππα / κάπα

kappa

k / c¹

English sketch / Hungarian kutya

Λ

λ

λάμδα

lambda

l

Italian lira

Μ

μ

μυ / μι

mu

m / ɱ²

meat / symphony

Ν

ν

νυ / νι

nu

n / n̪³

need / enthrone

Ξ

ξ

ξει / ξι

xi

ks⁵

fox

Ο

ο

όμικρον

omicron

o̞

Spanish todo

Π

π

πει / πι

pi

p / p̪²

English speak / German Apfel

Ρ

ρ

ρω / ρο

rho

r

Italian mare

Σ

σ, ς

σίγμα

sigma

s / z⁴

soap / tourism

Τ

τ

ταυ

tau

t / t̪³

English stop / Spanish todo

Υ

υ

ύψιλον

upsilon

i

keep (but shorter)

Φ

φ

φει / φι

phi

f

fast

Χ

χ

χει / χι

chi

x / ç¹

Scotish loch / German ich

Ψ

ψ

ψει / ψι

psi

ps⁵

drops

Ω

ω

ωμέγα

omega

o̞

Spanish todo

¹ γ is pronounced /ʝ/ before /e̞/ and /i/, /ɣ/ in all other cases.
¹ κ is pronounced /c/ before /e̞/ and /i/, /k/ in all other cases.
¹ χ is pronounced /ç/ before /e̞/ and /i/, /x/ in all other cases.

² μ is pronounced /ɱ/ before /v/ and /f/, /m/ in all other cases.
² π is pronounced /p̪/ before /f/, /p/ in all other cases.

³ ν is considered an alveolar consonant and it's pronounced /n/, but before the interdentals /ð/ and /θ/ tends to be pronounced as a dental one /n̪/.
³ τ is considered an alveolar consonant and it's pronounced /t/, but before the interdental /θ/ tends to be pronounced as a dental one /t̪/.

* Σίγμα has two versions of the lower case. The second one (ς) is used when it is the last letter of a word and the first version (σ) everywhere else.

⁴ σ is pronounced /z/ before voiced consonants, /s/ in all other cases.
⁴ ς is pronounced /z/ if the next word begins with a voiced consonant, /s/ in all other cases.

⁵ ξ should be considered an affricate because the articulations of /k/ and /s/ are simultaneous.
⁵ ψ should be considered an affricate because the articulations of /p/ and /s/ are simultaneous.

Letter Combinations

* αι is pronounced like ε, /e̞/.
* αυ is pronounced /av/ before voiced consonants and vowels, /af/ in all other cases.
* γγ can be pronounced in 3 different ways:

/ŋɟ/ before /e̞/ and /i/, /ŋɡ/ in all other cases, if it's found in the middle of a word; in everyday speech is often reduced to /ɟ/ and /ɡ/.

In a few particular cases, it can be pronounced /ŋʝ/ before /e̞/ and /i/, /ŋɣ/ in other cases; examples: εγγενής (inborn), συγγραφέας (author, writer), etc.

It is taught that it never occurs at the beginning of a word, although it can be found in popular and dialectal words and pronounced /ɟ/ before /e̞/ and /i/, /ɡ/ in other cases; examples: γγίζω (to touch), γγαστρώνω (to impregnate), etc.

* γκ can be pronounced in 3 different ways:

/ɟ/ before /e̞/ and /i/, /ɡ/ in other cases, when occurs at the beginning of a word.

/ŋɟ/ before /e̞/ and /i/, /ŋɡ/ in other cases, if it's found in the middle of a word; in everyday speech is often reduced to /ɟ/ and /ɡ/; if it occurs at the beginning of a word and in the second syllable of the same word, then these two consecutive combinations are assimilated and pronounced without the initial nasalization.

It can also be pronounced /ŋc/ before /e̞/ and /i/, /ŋk/ in other cases, especially in scholarly and rare used words or in transliterated foreign words.

* γκτ, in this combination, the voiceless (τ) prevents the sonorisation of (κ), so this combination is pronounced /ŋkt/ or simply /ŋt/.
* γξ is pronounced /ŋks/.
* γχ is pronounced /ŋç/ before /e̞/ and /i/, /ŋx/ in all other cases.
* ει is pronounced like η, ι, and υ, /i/.
* ευ is pronounced /e̞v/ before voiced consonants and vowels, /e̞f/ in all other cases.
* ηυ, found in a few words, is pronounced /iv/ before voiced consonants and vowels, /if/ in all other cases.
* μπ can be pronounced in 3 different ways:

/b/ when occurs at the beginning of a word.

/mb/ if it's found in the middle of a word; in everyday speech is often reduced to /b/; if it occurs at the beginning of a word and in the second syllable of the same word, then these two consecutive combinations are assimilated and pronounced without the initial nasalization.

It can also be pronounced /mp/, especially in scholarly and rare used words or in transliterated foreign words.

* μπτ, in this combination, the voiceless (τ) prevents the sonorisation of (π), so this combination is pronounced /mpt/ or simply /mt/.
* ντ can be pronounced in 3 different ways:

/d/ when occurs at the beginning of a word.

/nd/ if it's found in the middle of a word; in everyday speech is often reduced to /d/; if it occurs at the beginning of a word and in the second syllable of the same word, then these two consecutive combinations are assimilated and pronounced without the initial nasalization.

It can also be pronounced /nt/, especially in scholarly and rare used words or in transliterated foreign words.

* οι is pronounced like η, ι, υ and ει, /i/.
* ου is pronounced /u/, like put.
* υι, found in a few words, is pronounced like η, ι, υ, ει and οι, /i/.

When preceded by a consonant and followed by a vowel, AND WHEN UNSTRESSED the letters and digraphs representing the sound /i/ often indicate a palatalization of that consonant:

ΒΙ [vʝ]

ΛΙ [ʎ]

ΣΙ [sç]

ΓΙ [ʝ]

ΜΙ [mɲ]

ΤΙ [tç]

ΔΙ [ðʝ]

ΝΙ [ɲ]

ΦΙ [fç]

ΖΙ [zʝ]

ΞΙ [ksç]

ΧΙ [ç]

ΘΙ [θç]

ΠΙ [pç]

ΨΙ [psç]

ΚΙ [c]

ΡΙ [rʝ]

One can not be sure from the spelling about when these /i/ indicate palatalization and when they are pronounced as separate syllables. The only way is memorizing each word separately.

For those unfamiliar with IPA meanings, the following is a chart of the letters with comparative pronunciations.
The hardest letters for a foreigner to pronounce are Γ and Χ. All the rest have equivalents in English (except for Ρ which is a trilled R, like in Spanish or Italian):

Α α

like a in "father"

Β β

like v "in over"

Δ δ

like th in "there"

Ε ε

like e in "egg"

Ζ ζ

like z in "zoo"

Η η

like ee in "bee"

Θ θ

like th in "theatre"

Ι ι

like ee in "bee"

Κ κ

like c in "car" before /o/ /u/ /a/. Palatalized before /e/ /i/

Λ λ

like l in "law"

Μ μ

like m in "man"

Ν ν

like n in "no"

Ξ ξ

like x in "ex"

Ο ο

like o in "pot"

Π π

not aspirated, like in Spanish

Ρ ρ

like r in Spanish

Σ σ ς

like s in "several"

Τ τ

not aspirated, like in Spanish

Υ υ

like ee in "bee"

Φ φ

like f in "fox"

Ψ ψ

this is a diphthong, a "double" letter. It is read as /ps/

Ω ω

like o in "pot"

Note that there is no difference between ι, η, υ, ει, οι and υι, as well as between ε
and αι, ο and ω. The sound /u/ is written as ΟΥ, ου.

Χ χ is like the German ch. It is much palatalized before /e/ and /i/ though. It is
produced between the tongue and the palate and it has nothing to do with the throat.

Γ γ is the voiced version of the X. The position of the tongue is same as in X’s case.
It is also palatalized before /e/ and /i/ and thus it is then like y in "yes".

Note that K is also much palatalized before /e/ and /i/, more palatalized than c in
English "care".

Why all these letters with the same sound? The reason is historic. All these
letters used to have a different pronunciation in ancient times. H was a long /e/,
Y was like the German ü, and the diphthongs OI, EI, YI which are now pronounced
as /i/, used to be pronounced separately as /oi/, /ei/, /üi/. That changed very
early though and we believe that Athenians at Plato’s times used to pronounce
them as /i/ like in Modern Greek. The doubts are about how Homer and his ancestors
used to read them.

The Greek language was spoken at least since 2.000 BC and that explains the complexity of
its spelling.

In later times that Greeks started writing the "s" with a different way at the end of
the word for reasons of calligraphy. Besides Σ and N are the only consonants in which a
Greek word can end. All words ending in a different consonant than these two are
foreign words (except for some ancient Greek words ending in "r", still in use today).

Many people ask about "δημοτική" and "καθαρεύουσα", the demotic (from
ancient δήμος = people) and purist form of Modern Greek. They want to know if there are
two forms of Modern Greek used today. Καθαρεύουσα was an artificial language,
introduced by Αδαμάντιος Κοραής in the 19th century as en effort to make an official
language for the Greeks who used to speak many local dialects (usually mutually
intelligible though) before Greece gained independence in 1830. Καθαρεύουσα’s
purpose was to be in the middle between Ancient and Modern Greek. The question which
form of language should be the official caused many debates and conflicts (
even deaths!). Καθαρεύουσα was the official language till 1974. Then δημοτική,
the language that people used to speak in daily life, became the official language and
all these conflicts took an end. I want to make clear that now a days there is only
one form of the language used everywhere and that is δημοτική, from the Parliament
to every single house. Καθαρεύουσα is never used anymore, either spoken or written.
You can only find it in official texts and books dated before 1974.

An Introduction to the Grammar

Greek is a conservative language. It has changed in the past 2.500 years less than
English changed in the past 700. Thus, it maintains many caracteristics of the old
Indo-European languages, like 3 genders, which are not in accordance with the
natural gender, verbal conjugation and cases. Greek has theoretically 4 cases:
nominative, genitive, accusative and vocative. In fact, most nouns have 2 separate
cases and the rest are invariable. Still a few nouns maintain 4 separate cases while
others (few) have 3.

Greek uses articles more than most European languages. Articles precede all kind of
nouns, even proper names. The article is in accordance with the number, the gender
and the case of the word it qualifies. The articles for singular and nominative are
o (masc.), η (fem.) and το (neutr.).

Some examples:

Ο άνθρωπος

the human

Ο κύριος

mister

Ο άνδρας (άντρας)

the man

Ο μαθητής

the pupil

Ο φοιτητής

the student

Ο δρόμος

the road

Ο υπολογιστής

the computer

Ο δάσκαλος

the teacher

Ο καθηγητής

the professor

Ο Θεός

God

Ο Γιώργος

George

Ο Αλέξανδρος

Alexander

Η γυναίκα

the woman

Η κυρία

Mrs

Η μαθήτρια

the pupil (fem.)

Η φοιτήτρια

the student (fem.)

Η οδός

the street

Η δασκάλα

the teacher (fem.)

Η καθηγήτρια

the professor (fem.)

Η γλώσσα

the language

Η Μαρία

Mary

Η Ελένη

Helen

Το παιδί

the child

Το μάθημα

the lesson, the course

Το σχολείο

the school

Το σπίτι

the house

Το πανεπιστήμιο

the university

Το βιβλίο

the book

This will be also the vocabulary for the first lesson. Try to learn the alphabet and to
memorize the above words till the next lesson. Below I give also some common Greek
greetings, farewells etc:

Γεια

hi and bye. The most common informal greeting

Γεια σου

same as above when addressing one person. It is less used though and you should prefer γεια when talking to friends

Γεια σας

hello when addressing many people or formal for addressing one person

Χαίρετε

more formal hello

Καλημέρα

good day, goodmorning

Καλησπέρα

good afternoon

Καληνύχτα

goodnight

Αντίο

goodbye (γεια is more in use)

Χαίρω πολύ

nice to meet you (formal)

Χάρηκα

nice to meet you (less formal)

Τι κάνεις;

how are you? (sing.)

Τι κάνετε;

how are you? (plural or formal)

Πώς είσαι;

how are you? (sing.)

Πώς είστε;

how are you? (plural or formal)

Καλά, ευχαριστώ

well, thanks

Ευχαριστώ

Thank you, thanks

Παρακαλώ

please

Συγνώμη

excuse me, I am sorry

Στο επανιδείν

see you (formal)

Τα λέμε

see you (informal)

Καλώς ήρθες

welcome (sing.)

Καλώς όρισες

welcome (sing.)

Καλώς ήρθατε

welcome (pl.)

Καλώς ορίσατε

welcome (pl.)

Note that the 4 expressions for welcome are pronounced as one single word.
The stress of the first word is lost.

Note that since the verbs are fully conjugated we usually omit the personal pronoun,
just like in Spanish. We add the personal pronoun before a verb when we want to
emphasize the person that makes the action.

In Greek we use εσείς when addressing one person formally. The conjugation for
αυτός, αυτή, αυτό is the same as well as for αυτοί, αυτές, αυτά.
So when I give conjugations I will omit the feminine and neutral persons.

You will learn now to conjugate some verbs in the present tense. Greek has only one
present tense: Ενεστώτας. Ιt stands for both the simple and the continuous present.
In Greek there is an infinitive but it is not used as in French or Spanish or
Portuguese. When we talk about a verb we never name it after its infinitive.
We use the 1st person singular of the present tense instead. Here are some verbs you
will learn in this lesson:

Κάνω

to do

Θέλω

to want

Δίνω

to give

Παίρνω

to take

Εννοώ

to mean

Τηλεφωνώ

to call on the phone

Ενοχλώ

to disturb

These are also the 1st persons singular of the present tense. As you noticed in
some of them the ω is stressed and in some it is not. This is how the verbs are
distinguished. Verbs that have an unstressed ω form the first conjugation and verbs
with a stressed ώ form the second. Here is the conjugation for the above verbs in ενεστώτας:

κάνω - to do

Εγώ κάνω

-ω

I do

Εσύ κάνεις

-εις

You do

Αυτός κάνει

-ει

He does

Εμείς κάνουμε

-ουμε

We do

Εσείς κάνετε

-ετε

You do (plur)

Αυτοί κάνουν-ε

-ουν/-ουνε

They do (masc)

The rest I will give without the pronouns:

Θέλω - to want

Θέλω

-ω

I want

Θέλεις / θες

-εις

You want

Θέλει

-ει

He wants

Θέλουμε

-ουμε

We want

Θέλετε

-ετε

You want (plur)

Θέλουν-ε

-ουν/-ουνε

They want (masc)

Δίνω - to give

Δίνω

-ω

I give

Δίνεις

-εις

You give

Δίνει

-ει

He gives

Δίνουμε

-ουμε

We give

Δίνετε

-ετε

You give (plur)

Δίνουν-ε

-ουν/-ουνε

They give (masc)

Παίρνω - to take

Παίρνω

-ω

I take

Παίρνεις

-εις

You take

Παίρνει

-ει

He takes

Παίρνουμε

-ουμε

We take

Παίρνετε

-ετε

You take (plur)

Παίρνουν-ε

-ουν/-ουνε

They take (masc)

Εννοώ - to mean

Εννοώ

–ώ

I mean

Εννοείς

-είς

You mean

Εννοεί

-εί

He means

Εννοούμε

-ούμε

We mean

Εννοείτε

-είτε

You mean (plur)

Εννοούν-ε

-ούν / -ούνε

They mean (masc)

Τηλεφωνώ - to call on the phone

Τηλεφωνώ

–ώ

I call

Τηλεφωνείς

-είς

You call

Τηλεφωνεί

-εί

He calls

Τηλεφωνούμε

-ούμε

We call

Τηλεφωνείτε

-είτε

You call (plur)

Τηλεφωνούν-ε

-ούν / -ούνε

They call (masc)

Ενοχλώ - to disturb

Ενοχλώ

–ώ

I disturb

Ενοχλείς

-είς

You disturb

Ενοχλεί

-εί

He disturbs

Ενοχλούμε

-ούμε

We disturb

Ενοχλείτε

-είτε

You disturb (plur)

Ενοχλούν-ε

-ούν / -ούνε

They disturb (masc)

As you can see in all the above verbs there are two versions of the 3d person plural:
one without the final –ε and one with it:

Κάνουν/κάνουνε, θέλουν/θέλουνε etc. They are both correct. Also
both θέλεις and θες are in use in both daily talk and formal
speaking and there is no difference between them.

So the endings so far are: -ω, -εις, -ει, -ουμε, -ετε, -ουν/-ουνε
for the first conjugation and –ώ, -είς, -εί, -ούμε, -είτε, -ούν / -ούνε
for the second. Except for the stress you can see a difference only at the
2nd person plural. The rest are the same.

Exercise B: Translate to Greek:
1) He takes
2) You call (plur)
3) We give
4) They take (masc)
5) I mean
6) They give (masc)
7) I call
8) He gives
9) He wants
10) He disturbs
11) We take
12) You do (sing)

Solutions

Solution of Exercise A:
1) You take (plur)
2) You disturb (plur)
3) He calls
4) You do (plur)
5) We mean
6) They do (masc)
7) I want
8) You mean (plur)
9) We want
10) You give (sing)
11) He does
12) You give (plur)

Greek has no indefinite article. Instead of that it uses the number one.
It’s like saying "I have one apple" instead of "I have an apple".
The number "one"
has three forms, masc., fem., and neutral: ένας (masc.), μία or
μια (fem.),
and ένα (neutral). The two forms of the feminine are interchangeable
although the
stressed one is more prefered when writing. The unstressed is pronounced like "mña"
in Spanish.

Some more verbs:

Ξέρω

to know

Έχω

to have

Βλέπω

to see, to watch

Παίζω

to play

Διαβάζω

to read

These are all verbs of the first conjugation. Could you conjugate them as an exercise?

Now you can go back to the text and translate it. Note that in the text, the second
noun of every sentence (γλώσσα, βιβλίο, τηλεόραση, μάθημα, σπίτι) is in the
accusative, but in their case the accusative is same to the nominative. For other
nouns this doesn’t happen so don’t try to put other nouns in their positions and
make other sentences. Maybe you would have to make changes to put them in the
accusative then. The expression «δίνω ένα μάθημα» in daily talk means
"to have exams on a class".

Text Translation

- The child knows a language
- The woman has a book
- The man watches television
- The student gives a course today
- You have a house

Solutions

Modern Greek has 4 cases. This doesn't mean all the forms are different among them.
Usually only 1 differs and the rest are same. They vary between singular and plural.
We will begin with the group of words that maintain 4 different cases, the most
difficult. These are the masc. and fem. nouns ending in -ος. They can be divided again
into two subgroups: 1st. the oxytone and paroxytone and 2nd. the proparoxytone ones.
The difference between the two subgroups is this: In the 1st subgroup the stress
remains stable while in the 2nd (proparoxytone words) the stress falls in the
genitive (both singular and plural) and the accusative (plural only).

Note that the fall of the stress in the accusative of the plural is not essential
now a days. It still makes it more formal though.
Some examples:

Αs you see the articles are declined as well. The declension of the articles is the following:

Masculine article: o

Singular

Plural

Nom.

ο

οι

Gen.

του

των

Acc.

το(ν)

τους

Voc.

-

-

The final -ν of the accusative is maintained before κ, π, τ, γκ, μπ, ντ, ξ, ψ.

Feminine article: η

Singular

Plural

Nom.

η

οι

Gen.

της

των

Acc.

τη(ν)

τις

Voc.

-

-

Neutral article: το

Singular

Plural

Nom.

το

τα

Gen.

του

των

Acc.

το

τα

Voc.

-

-

Notes

Greek words (not loan ones) end only in vowels, -ς and -ν letters (no other consonant).

The genitive plural ends in –ων always, in all genders, both in nouns and articles, with no exception.

The nominative and the accusative of a noun are almost always identical in plural. (The only exception is masculine/feminine nouns in –ος, which in nominative plural end in -οι, while in accusative plural end in –ους.)

Replacing the -ο neuter ending by a -ου [neuter nouns ending in -ι which actually used to end also in –ο, more precisely in –ιο, and ο was dropped, just add –ου after their ι.]

Replacing the –ος ending by -ου (in masculine/feminine nouns) or adding to this –ου a ς (in neuter nouns ending in –ος)

The nominative and accusative form of a neuter noun/article (in the same number, singular or plural) is always identical, with no exception.

The accusative singular form of all the masculine nouns (and of the feminine ones ending in -ος) is created by omitting the –ς that exists in nominative; in all the other feminine nouns the accusative singular is the same with the nominative one.

There are also neutral nouns ending in -ος. Their declension is the following:

Exercise B: Translate to Greek:
1) The university has a computer.
2) The street does not have a school.
3) George takes the course.
4) He reads the course.
5) I don't know the pupil.

Solutions

Solution of Exercise A:
1) I am a student (female).
2) We see the house.
3) The child reads the book.
4) The teacher (male) knows the language.
5) She does not call the man.
6) Mary gives the book to the pupil (male).

More about conjugating verbs. In the 2nd lesson we learned one pattern. Now we will
learn one more. Many verbs have the ending -άω/-ώ at the 1st person singular.
Examples αγαπάω/αγαπώ (love), ρωτάω/ρωτώ (ask about),
περνάω/περνώ (pass),
ζητάω/ζητώ (ask for). Both types are correct but now a days the
types in -άω are
more in use. Types in -ώ are still very popular in the southern islands, Crete,
Cyprus etc. But for a foreign student I would recommend the -άω type. Here is their
conjugation:

Now you can learn the "past tense" endings. The past tense is for relating an event that has already happened and is over, like "I saw" and "It rained". These endings are for all conjugations.

- α

- ες

- ε

- αμε

- ατε

- αν(ε)

To form the past tense we use an additional ε (e) letter in the beginning,
if the verb (stem+ending) is less than 3 syllables, because in the past tense,
the stress must be on the third syllable before the end.
(Some irregular verbs do not follow this rule).

In regular verbs, the past tense stem is created from the present tense stem
by adding a σ (s) after it.

An example:

γράφω = I write

It’sέ – γραφ – σ – α ( = έγραψα, because φ+σ=ψ)

So, it’s

έγραψα

I wrote

έγραψες

You wrote

έγραψε

he/she/it wrote

γράψαμε

we wrote

γράψατε

you wrote

έγραψαν [γράψανε]

they wrote

Many verbs are irregular in the past tense. Some of them have an entirely
different stem in the past tense. For example, the past
tense of λέω (I say) is είπα (I said).

είπα

I said

είπες

you said

είπε

he/she/it said

είπαμε

we said

είπατε

you said

είπαν

they said

And the past tense of βλέπω (I see) is είδα (I saw).

είδα

I saw

είδες

you saw

είδε

he/she/it saw

είδαμε

we saw

είδατε

you saw

είδαν

they saw

In past continuous we use just the stem of the present tense, with the endings of past tense:

Exercise B: Translate to Greek:
1) You touch
2) You sing
3) He speaks
4) You look (plur)
5) We stop
6) You start (plur)
7) I help
8) He turns around
9) You speak (plur)
10) We sing
11) You throw
12) We beat

Solutions

Solution of Exercise A:
1) I look
2) You respond
3) She owes
4) I start
5) She helps
6) They touch
7) We fly
8) You owe (plur)
9) They hit
10) They stop
11) They respond
12) I turn around